1. Becoming Global Knowledge Workers: How U.S. Study Abroad Programs Act in Service to a Hidden Curriculum of Consumer Capitalism and National Security

This paper details how a neoliberal agenda pervades study abroad and provides critical readings and counter narratives that illuminate how this practice often acts in service to a hidden curriculum of consumer capitalism and national security. It argues that rather than being part of an effort toward the creation of global citizens in service to increased cross-cultural understanding, students are largely pushed to study abroad for the end goal of being developed as knowledge workers in service of a neoliberal agenda that perpetuates U.S. dominance in the global economy. This analysis applies theoretical frameworks not commonly applied in normative study abroad discourse including neoliberalism and academic capitalism. By applying these critical theories, we can move the current discourses surrounding study abroad to more productive new lines of inquiry that ask how we can combat the neoliberal tendencies that continue to influence the Academy.